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Michael Brecker’s incredibly assured debut as a leader is a hard act to follow, but Don’t Try This at Home (issued on the Impulse label) is a worthy followup. As before, Brecker achieves an artful balance of complex songforms/orchestrations and fiery soloing. This date definitely stands up to repeated listening. Although the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) is not the equal of a saxophone in terms of expressiveness, Brecker continues to find appropriate uses for it on Don’t Try This at Home.

Men at Work were one of the more surprising success stories of the new wave era, rocketing out of Australia in 1982 to become the most successful artist of the year. With its Police-styled rhythms, catchy guitar hooks, wailing saxophones, and off-kilter sense of humor, the band's debut album, Business as Usual, became an international blockbuster, breaking the American record for the most weeks a debut spent at the top of the charts. Their funny, irreverent videos became MTV favorites, helping send "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under" to number one. Men at Work's momentum sustained them through their second album, 1983's Cargo, before the bottom fell out of the band's popularity. After releasing Two Hearts in 1985, Men at Work broke up, becoming one of the better-remembered phenomena of new wave.